Andaman and Nicobar Police arrests ex-Chief Secretary Jitendra Narain in gang-rape case

New Delhi: Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Andaman and Nicobar Police on Thursday arrested senior IAS officer and former chief secretary of the Union Territory Jitendra Narain for his alleged involvement in a gang rape case.

The transfer comes after a session court docket rejected his anticipatory bail plea earlier within the day.

Sources saod that the 1990-batch Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre IAS officer was arrested from his residence in Port Blair by the SIT which was instituted to probe the alleged gang-rape of a 21-year-old girl within the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Narain was arrested days after the SIT grilled him for the third time earlier this month in reference to the case.

On October 17, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) suspended Narain with “immediate effect” over the allegation of alleged sexual assault.

The MHA had taken the motion following orders of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and a day after the ministry obtained a report on October 16 from Andaman and Nicobar Police concerning the alleged sexual assault.

The MHA then additionally ordered disciplinary proceedings towards Narain and others concerned within the crime.

“The Central government is committed to ensuring zero tolerance towards the acts of indiscipline by its officials irrespective of their rank and status, especially with regard to incidents involving the dignity of women,” Joint Secretary in MHA Ashutosh Agnihotri then informed ANI.

The Joint Secretary had mentioned knowledgeable that an FIR was registered and energetic within the felony case was being taken individually by the SIT (of Andaman and Nicobar Police.

The SIT was constituted to probe the allegation of a 21-year-old girl in Andaman and Nicobar Islands that she was gang-raped by officers there together with former Chief Secretary Jitendra Narain.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police registered a case in October on the criticism filed by the lady alleging that she was sexually abused by Jitendra Narain and others.

The Aberdeen police station in Andaman and Nicobar Islands registered the case and a Special Investigation Team headed by a Senior Superintendent of Police was shaped to probe the intense allegation towards Narain, who’s at current posted because the chairman and managing director of the Delhi Financial Corporation.

The girl lodged the criticism with the police on August 21 during which she gave an in depth account of the alleged sexual assault on her twice — in April and May — and requested for preserving the CCTV footage of the then chief secretary’s residence for proof.